If You Had One Shot To Seize Everything You Ever Wanted…

A shout out to Adrian J. Cartwood and his very entertaining and thought-provoking blog (http://7million7years.com) for reminding me about 8 Mile, a gem of a movie.

I watched it at the suggestion of Judith Searcy, my improv teacher at School For Film and Television, because she said that freestyling (rappers creating lyrics on the fly and a big part of this movie) is a terrific example of improv. Yes it is, and if you are really interested in freestyling/ improv, also watch the DVD extra where Eminem auditions the rappers for parts in the movie.

At the same time, 8 Mile is a great coaching movie:

You have to go for it. The above music video captures the high stakes, just-one-shot message that underlies the movie;

You can never give up. Despite the all-or-nothing subtext of the video and overall movie, Eminem’s character screws up multiple times before hitting it big in the finale (you will never hear the name Clarence quite the same again). You will have multiple chances, as long as you keep going;

You will be scared. When something really means something to you, you will feel as gritty as this movie looks. Hold onto that passion.

A lot of people have trouble with the passion part, especially when they’re caught up in the day to day and have forgotten. So when you do get a glimpse of it (perhaps watching an inspirational movie or just doing something fun), try to remember where you feel it in your body. For me, for example, my heart literally feels like it moves deeper into my chest. Now, you will know the feeling you’re trying to recreate. Experiment with activities till you get another glimpse of that feeling.

Letting yourself get passionate about something is like exercising a muscle. If you haven’t worked up your passion for awhile, it may be tough to get started but eventually it gets stronger. And perhaps strong enough for you to take your shot.